Inuit workers at a gold mining project in central Nunavut say they can't speak their mother tongue on the job — a rule that company officials say is necessary for safety reasons.

The Kivalliq Inuit Association is outraged with Agnico-Eagle Ltd.'s policy of making all mine workers speak only English while at work at Meadowbank, located about 70 kilometres north of Baker Lake on the western shore of Hudson Bay.

That means Inuit mine workers from the area cannot speak Inuktitut on the work site — not even "Qanuippit," which means, "Are you OK?"

Iqaluit, Nunavut (September 19, 2008) – The Nunavut Legislative Assembly has passed the Inuit Language Protection Act, the second of two pieces of legislation designed to respond to official language concerns in Nunavut. This second statute will provide the tools needed to respond particularly to the rights and unique needs of the Inuit Language.

Inuit filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk, speaking at the Arctic Indigenous Languages Symposium in Tromso, Norway, October 20, 2008, announced the creation of the Inuit Language and Culture Institute on IsumaTV, a five year $25 million commitment to install high-speed broadband and public access production studios in every participating Inuit community.